JLR sales grow 30% in Nov

Improved economic conditions globally helped the Tata-owned, British-based, brands Jaguar and Land Rover post 30 per cent growth in November, selling 18,825 units compared with the same month last year.

Sales of Jaguar sedans for November were 4,333 units, a decline of 2 per cent, while Land Rover sales of sports utility vehicles were 14,492, an increase of 45 per cent over the same month last year.

Tata Motors declined to provide absolute sales for the corresponding month last year.

Tata Motors' group global sales, comprising Tata, Tata Daewoo and the Hispano Carrocera range of commercial vehicles, Tata passenger vehicles along with distributed brands in India, and Jaguar and Land Rover, were 75,775 units in November 2009, growth of 62 per cent over November 2008.

Court issues summons to Raju

A local court on Thursday issued a production warrant against former Satyam Computer Services chairman Ramalinga Raju in a case filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office on charges of fudging balance sheets, deceiving shareholders, taking huge benefits and dividends as directors and showing unpaid dividends as paid.

It directed the Chanchalguda jail authorities to produce him before the court on December 30. The court had earlier issued summons to Raju, former managing director B Rama Raju and former chief financial officer Srinivas Vadlamani for examination on Thursday.

Rama Raju and Vadlamani, who are under judicial remand, were produced before the court. However, Raju, who is presently being treated for Hepatitis-C at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences here, was unable to appear before the court.

Robert Nelson elected to USIBC board of directors

Robert L Nelson Jr, a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and an expert in the field of renewable energy, has been elected on the board of directors of the US India Business Council.

As a board member, he will help USIBC provide strategic direction to US and Indian firms seeking bilateral investment opportunities and partnerships.

Commenting on Nelson appointment, USIBC chairman and PepsiCo head Indra Nooyi said: "His commitment to the Indo-US partnership is rooted in a lifelong interest in India, and, coupled with his expertise in renewable energy, will undoubtedly serve to bring the two countries closer in this vital field.

"Much of the credit for the positive transformation in relations between India and the US goes to the USIBC, and I look forward to being able to continue my USIBC activities at an expanded level with my upcoming participation on its Board," Nelson said.

Nelson has significant energy experience in Asia (particularly India and China), Latin America and the United States. He has served on a US-India task force designed to better trade and investment relations between the countries and had recently led the USIBC Green India renewable energy mission to India.

Final order on new energy rules in two weeks

While power utilities and traders have generally welcomed the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission's draft regulations on renewable energy certificates (RECs), they have warned that the short supply of renewable energy (RE) may encourage speculative activity and volatility in the already tight market.

However, the power exchanges-- Indian Energy Exchange and Power Exchange India --have welcomed the provision of trading RECs through exchanges.

CERC chairman Pramod Deo told Business Standard, "CERC will issue the order to release final regulations in two weeks. The objective is to promote RE in the context of uneven distribution of RE resources in the country." The draft rules were issued around three months earlier.

At the oral hearing on December 15, power developers and traders brought to the CERC's notice that existing RE sources are already tied up and will not generate certificates. Moreover, states with large renewable energy sources may deny open access under the power deficit scenario.

PTC India, which has over half the share in the power trading market, said trading of certificates or price discovery should not be limited to the exchanges. Market participants should get other options, including bilateral sale and banking, aggregation by intermediaries/portfolio managers and forward sales. It said these options would enhance competition, provide more price stability and securitisation to developers. And, the REC validity should be for at least three years, instead of the one year proposed in the draft regulations.

Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVN) said wind energy creates problems like uncertain generation, grid congestion and grid security. Other landlocked states like UP, MP, Bihar, Punjab and Chhattisgarh have lack of wind potential and facility for procurement of power from RE sources. According to the GUVN, a distribution licensee which cannot afford the pooled cost should not be obligated to pay for unscheduled RE injections at the pooled cost which may at time be equivalent to preferential tariff.

The MCX-promoted Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) suggested that the energy produced from all renewable generators should receive RECs. Discoms and other consumers with power purchase agreement (PPA) at preferential rates are entitled for receipt of REC on evidence of PPA.  This would help create a liquid market and better price discovery. RE units which are not off-grid (as with micro units in rual areas, for local use) should also be eligible to get RECs for their generation.

According to PXI, though the regulations have touched upon almost all aspects of recognition and issuance of RECs, those on transaction have not been touched upon and are still awaited.

Thumbs down for environment ministry revamp

Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh's ambitious plan to redesign the institutions of environmental governance has come up against serious resistance from environmental experts who say the concept does not address fundamental problems. Most have given it the thumbs down.

His idea of "an effective model of environmental governance" centred on the establishment of an autonomous National Environment Protection Authority (Nepa) that will grant clearances and also ensure compliance with the regulations, has failed to cut any ice with the environmental lobby. Even though Nepa, composed entirely of specialists, is envisaged as a statutory body free of the  control of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), critics say this will not bring about a fundamental change in the way projects are assessed and cleared.

Here's why. In Ramesh's concept, responsibility for legislation and policy-making will remain with the MoEF while Nepa will assume stewardship of enforcement and compliance. Adjudication will be entrusted to the proposed National Green Tribunal (NGT), a Bill which has been introduced in Parliament. The tribunal itself has become controversial since it has restrictive clauses that limit access to this redressal mechanism. Ramesh has outlined four models of Nepa, most of which are similar, except that in one case, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) continues reporting to MoEF.

MoEF's blueprint would make it appear that the system is in for a thorough overhaul, but analysts say it will just be a cosmetic structural change, since the legal framework will continue to be set by the ministry. Nepa will inherit the legacy of a faulty environment decision-making regime, point out Ashish Kothari and Kanchi Kohli of Kalpavriksh Environment Action Group, a Delhi-based advocacy organisation. The Nepa, as a body only to implement the flawed legislation, will not be any more independent of MoEF than other so-called autonomous bodies set up by the ministry in the past.

In a letter to Ramesh, they point out that "even if the Nepa is given statutory powers it will work with an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification which allows for rapid (and necessarily faulty) assessments, quick (and necessarily incomplete) appraisals." Besides, the environmental crisis the country is facing today also stems from an absence of sectoral and regional impact assessment procedures.

This point finds resonance across the board. Sharachchandre Lele, senior fellow at the Bangalore-based Centre for Environment & Development of the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, finds the major problem with the clearance process today is the EIA (environment impact assessment) system. Among the serious drawbacks: consultants are hired by the project proponents and EIAs are therefore shabby if not fake; a public hearing process diluted over the years till it has become a farce; the fact that no mandatory NOC is required from affected gram panchayats and that conceptually there are no clear standards on how and when clearance can be given. "All these flaws can be rectified within the existing system-- we do not need an 'independent authority'."

The contention of these experts is valid. Since 1994, the ministry has brought in 14 amendments to the EIA notification and 21 amendments to the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification of 1991, all of it provide expeditious clearances to project promoters. As a consequence of this dilution, environmental clearances have been granted at a dizzying pace. Between January 1, 2008 and February 17, 2009, a total of 3,463 projects were assessed and 75 per cent were cleared; 24 per cent are pending and only 0.8 per cent has been rejected, according to an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environmental in Delhi.

Asked if he would call a meeting of stakeholders, Ramesh told Business Standard that he had already had consultations with state governments, and has "no plans to have formal consultations with NGOs since we have already received written submissions from them". But he refused to say if their concerns would be taken on board while finalising Nepa.

Industry, however, is happy on the whole with the proposed changes since it feels that Nepa would go a long way in ironing out the conflicts of interest. "Environmental regulations, as they exist today, are a maze of rules and laws with overlapping jurisdiction. This has resulted in abnormal delays in the grant of clearances to the projects," says Shubhendu Amitabh, senior president, corporate affairs & development of The Aditya Birla Group. He was Assocham representative on an expert committee set up by the Department of Economic Affairs to speed up statutory clearances for industrial and infrastructure projects. The committee's report recommending self-certification by industry, however, has not been implemented.

Amitabh believes that creating Nepa as "a full-fledged authority that subsumes CPCB would be an ideal proposition acceptable to most Industries".  This would allow the rich experience and the technical manpower of CPCB to be utilised to develop a strong Nepa. Reorganisation would probably bring in "a greater degree of transparency and hopefully less corruption", Leo Saldanha, convenor of Bangalore-based research and activist organisation Environmental Support Group, expects. But the consensus is that Nepa is at best a half measure. For Saldanha, the main drawback of Nepa is that no effort is being made to democratise environmental and forest clearance. Without this the restructuring would be a pointless exercise.

The underlying concern that environmental lawyer and writer Videh Upadhyay emphasises is that no substantive changes have been proposed. "No space has been created for setting new standards, for new civil and criminal liability norms," he points out. "Every time you have a problem, you create a new authority. This is not the answer to our environmental problems."

BSE's secured settlement platform next week

The Bombay Stock Exchange will introduce a secured settlement platform for the Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) Indian Corporate Debt Market next week.

The new initiative is aimed at mitigating the market risk of a buyer not receiving bonds after having remitted the funds or a seller not getting the payment for bonds.

The BSE would also launch soon a Corporate Bond Repo, another new product for the Indian market.

"We hope to operationalise the ICDM platform on the exchange by next week," Sayee Srinivasan, BSE product strategy head, told PTI.

"We are now in the process of signing up banks and other players in the system and testing our connectivity with their back offices, depositories, and RBI's RTGS system," he said.

The exchange is participating in education seminars and roadshows across cities to inform market participants about the new settlement platform.

Srinivasan said the BSE was awaiting guidelines for the Corporate bond repo. "After RBI provides the guideline, we will launch CBR in four weeks," he said.

Srinivasan said currently most of the debt corporate bond trading in India took place between banks, mutual funds, insurance companies and pension funds on the over-the-counter market.

Trades were executed by phone between these institutions and settled by their respective back offices, and only details of transaction (time, details of bonds traded, price etc) were reported to any one of the BSE, NSE or FIMMDA platforms.

Srinivasan said the new system, however, would not be able to mitigate the counterparty risk completely.

There is likelihood that the trade could get canceled due to default of counterparties.

A lack of supply of identical underlying securities in the bond market unlike equities would be a stumbling block for exchanges to guarantee any trade.

"There can be high penalty on the defaulting party to reduce default risk. However, initially, there is no plan for such penalty by the exchange," Srinivasan said.

Dragon country enthrals Indian auto makers

China and India may not be the best of friends at global levels but when it comes to business, differences take a back seat.

Tata Motors' luxury automotive brand, Jaguar, bagged a three-year order to supply 13,000 units of its range to a Chinese company earlier this year. Its Land Rover, jointly with Jaguar, is charting new territories for expansion.

In little over a year, China has become the third largest market for Jaguar and Land Rover, up from the fifth position in 2008.

While Tata Motors is planning to reduce the number of national sales companies of JLR (it has at least 20) as an added effort at containing costs, China's growing significance is forcing it to set up a sales company in that country.

Speaking to a Chinese daily, David Smith, chief executive officer of JLR said: "We will add significantly to our dealer networks and bring in an increased range of products to the country. China will be very central in all of our plans and Chinese customers will be very central to our new product development initiatives."

JLR sales are expected to rise by 10 per cent this year, as compared to 12,456 units sold last year, stated company executives.

Mumbai-based Mahindra & Mahindra is planning to double the production of tractors from its two manufacturing sites in China over the next few years.

It says the domestic market for geared tractors in China has grown at over 30 per cent compounded annually over recent years, to reach the 200,000-level, making it the second largest market in the world after India.

Says Anjanikumar Choudhari, president -- farm equipment sector, M&M: "This growth has been fuelled by the policies of the government of China. Their aim is to slow urban migration by helping the rural economy to grow much faster than it has.

"The policy encourages significant increase in agriculture mechanisation by subsidising use of fuel-efficient geared tractors, as opposed to power tillers and belt-driven tractors. During this calendar year, the government subsidy is likely to be $2.5–3 billion, which is used to provide up to 30-40 per cent discounts to farmers who wish to buy modern farm equipment."

M&M operates in China through two companies -- Mahindra China Tractor Company, a JV between the Jiangling Motors Company Group and M&M FES and through Mahindra Yueda Yancheng Tractor Company, a JV between China's third largest tractor maker and M&M FES.

M&M recently set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant with a capacity in excess of 50,000 tractors per year in China. The company aims to sell between 25,000 and 30,000 tractors in this financial year, contributing 15-18 per cent of its global volumes.

Another Indian company looking to cash in on the cost advantage offered by China is Pune-based Bajaj Auto. The company wants to make China the base for manufacturing its Boxer motorcycle (the Bajaj brand name is missing on the bike), later shipped to markets in Africa such as Nigeria.

Bajaj says manufacture of ultra low-cost bikes like Boxer is possible only in China, which is also playing host to other manufacturers that produce and sell in local as well as export markets.

The Boxer is a low-cost, 125cc bike from the Bajaj stable and would cost about Rs 20,000-24,000 in India upon launch. Bajaj has already exported well over 14,000 units of the bike and plans to ramp up production moving forward.

Does that mean India is losing its cost advantage to China?

Kapil Arora, partner, Ernst & Young, says, "China is certainly a large market for commercial and passenger vehicles and known for its low production costs in areas like manpower and raw materials. India is known for its component supply, its quality, and research and development; it is regarded as a reliable sources for components.

"There will be no short-term threat to India. However, markets like Europe and America will now look towards low-cost countries for investments, so in that regard, India will have to compete with China in the long run."

The Chinese car market is more than six times the size of the Indian one, at sales of nearly 10 million vehicles. In comparison, India's passenger vehicle market is little more than 1.5 million units. India, however, remains the world's largest market for two-wheelers.

Railways were below par during Lalu era: Mamata

A status paper on the functioning of railways, presented in the Lok Sabha on Friday, punctured former railway minister Lalu Prasad's tall claims of record profit and held that its performance was 'below par' during his tenure.

The performance of railways was 'below par' during 2004-05 to 2008-09 when the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief was at the helm of affairs, the White Paper laid by railway minister Mamata Banerjee revealed.

"Analysis of the overall growth of railways during the period shows that the performance was below par if the normally accepted growth elasticity of 1.25 is reckoned," the report, tabled amid din, said.

Prasad was present in the House when the report was laid. Noting that losses from passenger operation was almost Rs 14,000 crore (Rs 140 billion) in 2008-09, the document said a new form of presentation of accounts was started during the Lalu regime which projected a concept of cash surplus before dividend which made the Railway finances 'look good'.

If these presentation changes had not been done, the accumulated surplus of Rs 89,000 crore (Rs 890 billion) during the five-year period would come down to Rs 39,500 crore (Rs 395 billion).

This reduction also includes the impact of Pay Commission arrear payments which have been taken to the years in which it actually accrued, the 70-page document said.

Seeking to give a lie to Prasad's claims about his period being the golden era of the Railways, the White Paper said the best period financially in the last 20 years was 1991-96 (when CK Jaffer Sharief was railway minister) and 'not the last five years.'

Organised retail feels recession pangs

India's retail industry boom gave way to despair in 2009 as consumers held back big spending, forcing some companies to restructure finances, while recession-battered western retail chains would have felt glad they were not allowed to set shop.

Although the United Progressive Alliance government returned to power, minus the push and pulls of Left parties, it decided to keep western multi-brand retail chains off from the country's $450-billion retail market.

But nobody was complaining, as the recession-battered global majors were busy securing existing operations elsewhere.

One estimate suggests that nearly 5,700 retail stores would close down this year in the US alone.

That slowdown had got to the domestic retail trade became evident when one of the earliest players, budget-retail chain Subhiksha, went bust.

Not long after, north Indian chain Vishal Retail went for corporate debt restructuring. Others such as Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Retail and Kishore Biyani-led Pantaloon went slow on expansion or even downsized operations.

Though the last quarter saw a bit of marketplace confidence returning, overall, the year remained challenging.

There were no estimates, however, of how mom & pop stores fared through the year.

While Indian companies tread cautiously, the world's largest furniture maker Ikea scrapped plans to enter the country, citing government's restrictions on foreign direct investment.

The Swedish retailer was planning to enter the single- brand retail segment, where 51 per cent FDI is allowed but it wanted further relaxation of the rules. The last quarter, around the festive season, saw a bit of consumer confidence returning, with some retailers player announcing expansion plans for the coming year.

The year started with Chennai-based retailer Subhiksha Trading Services Ltd going bankrupt and downing the shutters of all its 1,600 odd stores across the country due to severe liquidity crunch.

With its lenders running for the company's skin and over 5,000 employees on the street, Subhiksha sought a corporate debt restructuring exercise.

But, that remains inconclusive and the firm now faces a slew of cases by its suppliers in the Madras High Court on winding up petitions. Reeling under Rs 730-crore (Rs 7.3-billion) debt, Delhi-based supermarket chain Vishal Retail also went in for a CDR in November. Earlier in the year, it had already halted all expansion.

Even the country's largest retailer, Kishore Biyani- promoted Future Group, faced crunch and went in for restructuring of its operations and merging them under six verticals.

A few months ago it announced plans to hive off its supermarket chain Big Bazaar as a separate entity and list it on the market by end of the current fiscal.

Biyani said the company will open 155 Big Bazaar stores by 2014, increasing its total network to 275 stores.

Besides, its subsidiary, Pantaloon Retail will invest Rs 360 crore (Rs 3.6 billion) this fiscal to add up to 2.4 million sq ft of retail space.

The company had raised Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) in November through Qualified Institutional Placement and is looking to raise some of the money for expansion.

But as the confidence began to return in the last quarter, with the economy showing signs of growth, retail players started unveiling expansion plans for the coming months and years.

Biyani hopes to make Future Group a Rs 25,000-crore (Rs 250-billion) entity with a total retail space of 30 million sq ft. Bharti's single-brand retail chain 'Easy Day' continued expansion across North India.

It plans to have 200 outlets by end of next year, from 70 currently. Koutons Retail, a leading apparel chain, said it will amalgamate various formats under the brand of 'Koutons Family Store' and plans to add another 100 outlets by March.

Shoppers Stop will invest Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.5 billion) in opening 15 new supermarkets in next three years.

The Franchise India 2009 Summit in November saw participation of over 200 Indian and foreign retail players, with many of them unveiling plans to invest big in India.

During the summit, Australia's largest retail chain, Retail Food Group, and Thailand-based restaurant-chain Minor Food Group announced plans for India foray by 2010.

Meanwhile, in wholesale cash-and-carry where 100 per cent FDI is allowed foreign players like Wal-Mart saw fruition of their much-awaited plans.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer which has a joint venture with Bharti Retail, opened its first 'Best Price Modern Wholesale' store in May this year at Amritsar.

The JV plans to open 10-15 hypermarkets by 2015.

However, French supermarket chain Carrefour, which earlier planned to start its wholesale cash-and-carry business by mid-2009, postponed the foray till 2010. The company is yet to announce details of Indian operations.

Only 800 of 65,000 H-1B slots up for grabs now

After months of low-key response, the H-1B visa scheme, which was once most sought-after among Indian professionals, is suddenly appearing to be in demand again, with just 800 of the 65,000 slots remaining vacant.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it has almost reached the Congressionally-mandated cap of 65,000.

Now, just 800 slots are to be filled up, according to the latest figures tallied till December 15.

In the last couple of weeks, the USCIS suddenly experienced a rush of H-1B applications. It said that till December 15, it had received 64,200 H-1B applications.

Given the rate at which the USCIS has now been receiving the H-1B applications on a daily basis, officials said it would not be a surprise that they announce that the cap has been reached before the end of this year.

This is after several years that the USCIS will take around nine months to announce that it has reached the Congressionally-mandated cap of 65,000 for H-1B visas and thus would no longer accept it.

Unfazed by downturn, Indians on backpacking mode

With the economy showing signs of revival, the country's travel industry is betting big on a strong demand upsurge for the coming holiday season as Indians gear up to head for international destinations like Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Thailand.

Leading travel agencies say they are already seeing a large number of families inquiring about their holiday trips, both domestic and overseas, around the last week of this year and first week of 2010.

Most sought after domestic destinations this season are Kerala, Goa, Manali and Shimla while global travellers are going to Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Thailand and Hong Kong during Christmas holidays, they say.

Some travel agents have also slashed their prices for this season by up to one-fourth to attract those still cautious to spend big bucks on their holidays.

"Travel industry is one of the few sectors that is recovering from recession very fast, as people are willing to spend on holiday trips a lot more than last year," says Kashmira Commissariat, chief operating officer (outbound division) of leading travel service provider SOTC.

"People are looking at the current situation as an opportunity to avail the best deals that were not available before and may not be available in the future. Keeping this in mind, most of the companies have slashed their prices by 20-25 per cent as compared to last year," commissariat told PTI.

According to Karan Anand of another major travel firm Cox and Kings Ltd, travel activities have gone up this year, especially this holiday season, and bookings for tour packages have increased by about 20 per cent over the last year.

"Traditionally, during winters, hoteliers and tour operators increase rates in India and abroad because it is the second-largest holiday season after summers as school kids get a long break.

However, this time around, travel package rates are cheaper," says Anand, head of relationships and supplier management, Cox and Kings (India) Ltd.

"Travellers are keen on taking advantage of attractive offers, so a large number of people are opting for a holiday and the whole travel industry is doing exceedingly well. The booking trends are also quite positive," Anand says.

Describing the tour packages, he says, "Our pricing is very competitive and we are offering a number of attractive packages both nationally and internationally, especially for the New Year celebrations."

According to Commissariat, the number of value additions to a tour package for the same price has also gone up.

"For instance, a trip to Hong Kong now come with free Disneyland tickets, meals and free transfers from one location to another," she says. SOTC is also providing special tour packages like 11 days trip to Australia for Rs 98,199, seven days to Mauritius for Rs 26,190, five days to Hong Kong for Rs 21,790 and four days trip to Dubai for Rs 14,990. Kuoni India is offering a four-day trip to Singapore for Rs 35,500.

Kruti Sharma from Thomas Cook, which has also come up with various special packages, says, "Discounts and price of the package vary and depend on the choice of destination, number of days, category of accommodation, etc.

"Recession was a passing phase, although in the beginning we recorded marginal loss but now people have recovered from the shock and booking for this holiday season is very good. We are hoping to recover all the initial losses this December." Thomas Cook is also providing many affordable packages to New Year revellers back home.

In India one can go to Ranikhet for four days spending Rs 11,450, a five-day trip to Auli costs Rs 18,115 while camp holidays are available for Rs 10,300.

Thomas Cook's 10-day trip to Australia is for Rs 1,12,999, seven-day tour to Singapore Rs 42,499 and a seven- day visit to Mauritius is for Rs 57,699. Packages for destinations like Mussorie or Nainital would cost a person Rs 4,500-5,500 while a trip to Jim Corbett National Park is for Rs 9,000-10,000.

Sanghvi Movers

We recommend a buy in Sanghvi Movers stock from a short-term horizon. It is apparent from the charts of the stock that from its 52-week low of Rs 59.6 recorded in March, it has been on a steady intermediate-term uptrend. Moreover, the stock's medium and short-term trend also is up. In early December it conclusively surpassed its long-term resistance level at Rs 200 accompanied with good volume and is trading way above its 21 and 50-day moving averages. The stock reinforced its uptrend by gaining 4 per cent on December 17. The daily and weekly relative strength indices are featuring in the bullish zone. Both the daily and weekly moving average and convergence indicators are hovering in the positive territory showing signs of bullishness. Considering that the stock's intermediate-term up trendline is intact we are bullish from a short-term perspective. We expect it to move up further until it hits our price target of Rs 248 in the approaching trading session. Traders with short-term perspective can buy the stock while maintaining a stop-loss at Rs 213.
via BL

India to be top economic superpower by 2030: Survey

India is poised to take over the developed countries to emerge at the top of the heap in the global economic superpower league by 2030, says a survey.

More than half of the respondents (53 per cent) of a survey commissioned by London-based independent think-tank Legatum Institute said India is likely to be the world's most important economic power by 2030.

According to the respondents of the survey, India is now on course to outstrip developed nations such as -- the United States, Japan, Germany and the fast-emerging economic giant China over the next two decades.

The survey, which questioned nearly 2,400 Indian senior managers, entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs said the levels of confidence among the country's wealth-creators is very high, with nearly nine in ten saying they expected India to be in a stronger economic position in the next five years.

Only one in five said the world economic crisis had badly affected business in India, the survey said.

India is already moving up the economic league tables as the 12th largest economy in the world, as per the World Bank.

Besides, it also ranked 45th in the internationally respected 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index -- which embraces social and political data to provide a wider measure of national success.

About two-thirds of the respondents said Indians were more entrepreneurial than people from other countries and 84 per cent said their country was going in the right direction.

Beyond making money, Indian entrepreneurs are also highly motivated by the broader social impact of their work. Over half (54 per cent) of respondents say the social effects of their business, such as improving the quality of life in their communities or developing people, are a main motivation for what they do, the survey said.

Business start-ups in India in 2007 numbered 20,000 and the evidence for India's economic optimism is vast:

India's automobile industry is one of the fastest growing in the world, boasting exports greater in number than China.

India is one of the world's leading outsourcing destinations for many of the world's top businesses, with annual revenues of nearly $60 billion.

It is home to a $52-billion textile manufacturing sector.

Mumbai is a recognized global financial centre.

India is also a world leader in innovation from ultra-inexpensive cars to pioneering computer software.

Strong family connections are a key to India's business dynamism. Just over a third (36 per cent) of respondents said that the country's entrepreneurial spirit was rooted in the family, with 30 per cent citing the example set by other business people and 11 per cent citing social networks or friends. Only 2 per cent selected government encouragement and incentives, the survey found.

This finding squares with the 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index, which rated India 5th out of 104 nations in social capital. In addition, nearly half the respondents (48 per cent) relied on family money to found their firms.

Meanwhile, the survey has also pointed out certain factors, which can negatively impact India's economic future.

"Over half of the respondents say that corruption is a serious problem that hurts business in India, and 40 per cent say they have been pressured to pay a bribe," the survey said.

In addition, together with access to finance, government bureaucracy is regarded as the biggest barrier to successfully starting companies in India. Government bureaucracy is also regarded as one of the main three reasons that businesses fail in India.

Likely because of corruption and bureaucracy, more than half of respondents running smaller companies said it was very important to improvise and work around the system to make their companies grow.

Climate draft soon, India suspects foul play

The draft of a potential declaration at the climate summit in Copenhagen was almost ready, diplomats said on Friday, even as India and other developing nations suspected the overnight negotiation was an eyewash and the document prepared was a rehash of the earlier Danish text.

Leaders and ministers from 28 countries huddled together overnight to hammer out an outline of a potential draft and following a meeting with Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Danish Premier and chairman of the Conference of Parties (COP), it was announced that the first text being prepared by the Danes is expected to be presented soon.

Though negotiations continued till early morning on Friday, India and G77 nations feared they were stage-managed to give an appearance that everybody was consulted.

"This whole thing was stage-managed to show that they had consulted everyone," a visibly angry Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said referring to the meeting with the prime minister as he made his way for a meeting BASIC (Brazil), South Africa and China) meeting.

It is widely suspected that the text has been prepared earlier by the Danes along with other developed countries.

"In one hour's time some how miraculously a text will appear," the minister said, noting that the drafting could also have been 'outsourced' to someone.

The co-chair of G77, Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aiping, told PTI that the text was 'rehashed', 'prepared from before' and that the meeting had been staged.

After the initial draft is prepared by the Danes, delegates from a select group of countries, including India, will be be contributing to it, hours before heads of state and government from over 110 countries met in a summit.

This meeting is being viewed as a disappointment by developing countries who had been reassured that there was no such text. The Danish presidency was not available for comment.

Earlier, Rasmussen had told the G77 and China that any political message in the form of a statement or declaration will be based on the two texts that are being negotiated under the Kyoto Protocol and Long Term Cooperative Action track under the Bali Action Plan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Copenhagen late Thursday night hoping to preserve the areas of consensus on mitigation actions and finances and transfers of green technologies to developing countries enshrined in the Bali Action Plan.

He will attend the climate summit along with US President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao among other world leaders.

Obama leaves for Copenhagen; hopes to seal the deal

US President Barack Obama left for Copenhagen on Thursday night to attend the summit on climate change, hoping that the meeting of the key world leaders in the last phase of negotiations would be able to seal the deal.

The US President is scheduled to arrive in Copenhagen early Friday morning local time. Obama will attend the morning plenary session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference and is expected to deliver brief address on the issue.

Later in the day, he will hold bilateral meetings with the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao; and his Brazilian and Russian counterparts, Lula da Silva, and Dmitry Medvedev respectively.

He would also attend the afternoon plenary session. No bilateral meeting has been scheduled with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is also attending the summit. Subject to negotiations, Obama is expected to leave Copenhagen the same night.

US officials said progress was being made on the issue of reporting and verification requirements by China and other developing countries now the sticking point of the negotiation.

In his address to the plenary session, officials said Obama is expected to stress on renewed US commitment to show leadership on global warming.

However, he is unlikely to be more specific about providing funding to poor countries on climate change.

Hindi-Chini camaraderie at Copenhagen

It has been a prickly year for China-India ties with the Arunachal Pradesh boundary dispute poisoning bilateral rhetoric. In Copenhagen, Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai is back in vogue with the two sides holding meetings up to six times a day, according to Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.

India and China are both part of the BASIC (Brazil), South Africa, India and China) group of countries that have decided to coordinate their negotiating stance at the UN climate talks. Interestingly, it is the Chinese who have clearly taken the lead of this group, calling for meetings and constantly updating its members of developments.

For Ramesh, even in the event of a failure of the talks to produce any substantial outcome, the one takeaway from Copenhagen is a reinvigorated India-China dynamics with lasting implications going ahead. "BASIC is a reality now. And, India and China in particular have cooperated and collaborated each word at every step," said Ramesh on Thursday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday morning, one of the few bilateral meetings he has scheduled.

Jairam Ramesh added that India should learn from the Chinese strategy to fight global warming. "Chinese negotiators talk tough but they also act aggressively domestically to fight climate change," he said. The minister made a case for India matching China's 'ambitious, aggressive domestic agenda' on global warming.

India would perhaps do best to emulate China cautiously. It is China, not India that has emerged at Copenhagen as the preferred scapegoat for developed countries to hang the blame of failure on.

Both United States and the European Union have repeatedly said they do not believe China to be an appropriate spokesperson for the 'developing' world, given its economic clout and recent spectacular growth.

It is China's reluctance to accept more stringent verification of its voluntary domestic mitigation actions that has been singled out by the US as a crucial sticking point.

For China, the benefits of Indian support are obvious. Without it Beijing would find itself completely isolated at the talks.

India should keep in mind that despite having similar list of non-negotiables at the UN meeting, the two countries have a large gulf when it comes to both their per capita as well as aggregate levels of carbon emissions.

China emits four and half times more CO2 than India on a per capita basis and their development needs are also vastly different. It may be fashionable to hyphenate the two, but the cold fact is that China's per capita GDP at close to $5,000 on purchasing parity terms is double of India's $2560.

Jairam Ramesh is walking a fine line in Copenhagen. On the one hand he has wholeheartedly thrown India's lot in with China. On the other, he has also been quick to capitalise on the divergent perceptions of the two countries claiming that he has kept India "out of the firing line" that Beijing is directly in.

This is a strategy that appears expedient during the UN talks, whose long term efficacy may be dubious.

Brokers push BSE, NSE back to 9.55

Within hours of announcing their plans to extend trading time by 55 minutes from tomorrow, the country's two premier stock exchanges today deferred the implementation to January 4.

The exchanges said the decision was based on feedback from market participants. Sources close to the development said the joint statement by the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange followed strong opposition from market players and an informal advice from the market regulator that they should consult each other and give market participants enough time to adjust with the new timings. Some termed it as one-upmanship by the exchanges, which could lead to chaos on the trading floor.

"The move could have caused a lot of problems for stock brokers and investors as they would not have been able to adjust to the extended trade timings at such short notice," said ENC Palaniappan, president of ANMI, an NSE brokers' forum.

On Wednesday, BSE announced advancing trade timing to 9.45 am, from 9.55 am. NSE reacted to the unilateral decision, saying it would start at 9 am. BSE quickly followed suit and announced it would also start trading at the same time.

In March, the market regulator had proposed an extension of trading hours to align the domestic bourses with international markets.

Sebi invited feedback and in October permitted the stock exchanges to begin the day as early as 9 am and keep the market open for trading till 5 pm. The final decision was left with the exchanges.

"Arranging for margin funds from clients so early in the day will be a problem since banks don't open that early. If the exchanges want to open earlier, why not ensure systems linked to trading are in place?" said Kishor Oswal of Mumbai-based CNI Research and Stock Broking.

Nandip Vaidya, president, retail broking, India Infoline, said, "Advancing trading hours in the morning may work, but extending them in the evening is a question mark. It needs to be seen whether increasing trading hours will lead to increase in liquidity and efficient price discovery."

ANMI and BSE Brokers' Forum surveys showed most of the brokers were opposed to the extension of trading hours. Palaniappan said some of the brokers were still divided on the issue and they would hold a meeting to debate it on December 20.

Dinesh Thakkar, chairman and managing director of Angel Stock Broking, said, "The postponement will give the market participants time to put the infrastructure in place and manage the extended trading hours with full planning and preparation."

Dharmesh Mehta, head of broking at Enam Securities, said consent of all participants should have been taken before taking the decision. In cities like Mumbai, commuting time also needs to be considered.

Many brokers are still worried about the operational aspects of the move, in addition to the strain that it would put on their daily routine.

Reliance biggest wealth creator in 2009

The country's largest company Reliance Industries has emerged as the biggest wealth creator in the 2009 fiscal, generating Rs 1,51,400 crore (Rs 1,514 billion ), which accounted for over 15 per cent of the total wealth created during the year in the country, a study has said.

Leading brokerage firm Motilal Oswal, in a study released on Thursday, said oil and gas has been the biggest wealth creator during the past six years-- the first three years led by state-run oil and gas major ONGC and the next three by RIL.

"Reliance Industries has emerged as the biggest wealth creator for the third time in a row. It has created Rs 1,514 billion worth of wealth, contributing 15.6 per cent of total wealth created in FY09," the study titled '14th Motilal Oswal Wealth Creation Study' said.

The Mukesh Ambani-led petrochemicals and energy major is the largest contributor of wealth for the third time in a row, while real estate company Unitech was the fastest wealth creator since 2004, the study said, adding Unitech's five-year stock price had a staggering CAGR of 122 per cent.

Apart from RIL, home-loan lender HDFC, pharma company Sun Pharma, auto major Hero Honda and software exporter Infosys have emerged among the top 100 wealth creators in the past one decade.

"HDFC is ranked as the most consistent wealth creator by virtue of its 10-year price CAGR (compound annual growth rate) being the highest," the study said.

Tata Motors global sales zoom 62% in Nov

Tata Motors on Thursday reported a 62 per cent jump in its total global sales in November on the back of strong performance by its British marquees Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR).

The country's largest auto company reported a total sales of 75,775 units across its various international operations, which include Tata Motors, Tata Daewoo and the Hispano Carrocera range of commercial vehicles, Tata passenger vehicles and the British marquee brands Jaguar Land Rove.

JLR's global sales in November stood at 18,825 units, up 30 per cent from the same month last year, Tata Motors said in a statement.

While Jaguar sold 4,333 units during the month, down two per cent from the figure in November last year, Land Rover sales were up by 45 per cent at 14,492 units, the company added.

The company's global commercial vehicles sales stood at 33,338 units, a jump of 81 per cent from the corresponding month last year.

Passenger vehicles sales during the month were 42,437 units, up 50 per cent from last November, the company added.

Tata Motors' cumulative global sales in the April-November period witnessed a growth of four per cent at 5,21,059 units.

Cumulative sales of JLR during the first eight months of the fiscal were at 1,15,844 units, down 32 per cent from the corresponding period a year-ago.

Tata Motors sold 31,716 units of Jaguars during in the April-November period, down by 37 per cent from the same period last year, while it reported a fall of 30 per cent in the sale of Land Rover during the same period at 84,128 units.

Cumulative global commercial vehicles sales during the fiscal till November stood at 2,44,810 units, up 16 per cent from the year ago period, Tata Motors added.

It, however, reported a fall of five per cent in its cumulative passenger vehicles sales during the first eight months of the fiscal at 2,76,249 units, it said.

Food inflation at 19.95%, RBI may hike rates

Food inflation touched more than a decade's high of 19.95 per cent as of December 5, driven by costlier vegetables, pulses, milk, wheat and rice, even as economists said they expected Reserve Bank to hike rates to tame price rise.

On an annual basis, potato prices more than doubled at 136 per cent and pulses became costlier by over 40 per cent, while onion prices rose 15.4 per cent.

Other food items that became dearer include wheat 14 per cent), milk (13.6 per cent), rice 12.7 per cent) and fruits (11 per cent). Food price inflation was triggered by a short supply of essentials owing to lower farm production following drought and floods in different parts of the country during the year.

The comprehensive wholesale price inflation, which includes manufactured products in addition to food and fuel items, soared to 4.78 per cent in November from 1.34 per cent in October.

"By the end of March 2010, it (inflation) could be close to seven per cent," Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council chairman C Rangarajan had said earlier this week.

"We need to watch for behaviour of prices in December...possibly some action will be taken (by the RBI), which can have a moderating effect (on inflation)," said Rangarajan, a former Reserve Bank governor.

The RBI, which keeps a close watch on inflation and growth, is slated to come out with third quarterly review of monetary policy on January 29, 2010.

RBI had earlier projected inflation towards the year-end at 5 per cent, but later raised it to 6.5 per cent. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee too has said rising inflation was a matter of concern. "There is inflationary pressure, particularly in the food items. Even the wholesale prices have gone up substantially, about 19 per cent inflation (food)."

Food inflation in the last week of November stood at 19.05 per cent. On a weekly basis, the spike in prices was significant with urad and spices rising by 3 per cent while milk rose by two per cent.

At the same time, maize, barley, pork, masur and wheat was costlier by one per cent each. However, the prices of poultry chicken declined by 10 per cent and tea by 2 per cent.

Among the non-food articles, raw jute turned expensive by 11 per cent and mustard seed by 4 per cent. The fuel index declined during the week due to lower prices of aviation turbine fuel.

Markets end flat; Sensex down 18.52 pts

Indian markets traded in a lacklustre manner today. The Sensex ended on a flat note with negative bias led by realty, oil & gas and capital goods stocks, while consumer durables, healthcare and IT buck the trend. The index opened with a loss of 0.52 points, at 16,912.25 on Thursday tracking positive Asian shares and witnessed volatility during the day to finally close on a quiet note after touching a high of 16,979.52 and low of 16,826.
BSE Midcap and Smallcap index rose 1.09% and 0.88% respectively.
European stocks fell for the first time in six days as the Federal Reserve signaled it will remove most emergency measures and Standard & Poor`s cut its rating for Greece. Asian shares and U.S. futures dropped. UK`s benchmark index FTSE 100 declined 37.52 points, or 0.71%, to trade at 5,282.68. French benchmark index CAC 40 decreased 27.37 points or 0.71% to trade at 3,848.40. Germany`s benchmark index DAX dropped 33.11 points or 0.57% to trade at 5,870.75. (4.15 pm)
Asian markets ended lower Thursday, with worries about a surge in supply of new shares and their impact on liquidity dragging Shanghai and Hong Kong lower. Japanese benchmark index Nikkei 225 dropped 13.61 points, or 0.13%, to end at 10,163.80. Hong Kong`s Hang Seng fell 264.11 points, or 1.22%, to end at 21,347.63. China`s Shanghai Composite decreased 76.14 points, or 2.34% to end at 3,179.08.
The Sensex ended the day with a loss of 18.52 points, or 0.11% at 16,894.25 after touching a high of 16,979.52 and a low of 16,826.00. The broad-based NSE Nifty fell 0.30 points, or 0.01% at 5,041.75 after hitting a high of 5,064.20 and a low of 5,013.15.
Major gainers in the 30-share index were Hindustan Unilever (1.63%), Hindalco Industries (1.40%), Tata Consultancy Services (1.29%), Tata Steel (1.16%), Mahindra & Mahindra (0.96%), and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (0.91%).
On the other hand, DLF plunged (3.70%), Larsen & Toubro (1.33%), Reliance Industries (1.23%), Maruti Suzuki India (1.16%), and HDFC Bank (1.16%) were the major losers in the Sensex.
Overall market breadth was positive. Out of the total 2,885 stocks traded at BSE, 1,632 advanced, 1,168 declined while 85 remained unchanged.
Among the sectoral indices, BSE Consumer Durables which gained 1.72%, HC climbed 1.44%, IT gained 0.87%, TECk rose 0.66% and Metal rose 0.35%, while BSE Realty declined 1.11%, Oil & Gas declined 0.59%, Capital Goods fell 0.31% and FMCG fell 0.02%.
Meanwhile, the BSE and NSE postponed the implementation of new trade timings to Jan. 4, 2010 from Dec. 18, 2009.
Reacting to the postponement, Ashok Jainani, VP - Research & Market Strategy, Khandwala Securities said, ``It is difficult to be happy with such insensitive move by the authorities and it can not be pre-judged what benefits the move would bring to the market and the country for the action to be justified.``
``The move would definitely bring stress on manpower situation besides increasing other overhead costs,`` he added.
``Hope the status-quo is restored and enough time is given to people to make adjustments/arrangements for the new timing schedule, `` he concluded.

BSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Dec 17 2009

Deal Date Scrip Code Company Client Name Deal Type * Quantity Price **
17/12/2009 524412 Aarey Drugs DAXABEN VASANTKUMAR SHAH S 31668 44.43
17/12/2009 531897 Accentia Tech HITESH SHASHIKANT JHAVERI B 71758 174.40
17/12/2009 531897 Accentia Tech SHANTANU YESHWANT NALAVADI S 111693 173.57
17/12/2009 517041 Ador Welding OPG SECURITIES P LTD B 121524 203.49
17/12/2009 517041 Ador Welding OPG SECURITIES P LTD S 121524 203.55
17/12/2009 523537 APM Inds FARIDABAD PAPERS MILLS LTD B 76210 43.60
17/12/2009 523537 APM Inds AJAY RAJ GARHIA S 76210 43.61
17/12/2009 532759 Atlanta OPG SECURITIES P LTD B 272621 170.28
17/12/2009 532759 Atlanta OPG SECURITIES P LTD S 272621 170.43
17/12/2009 512109 Aviva Inds AJAY PRABHULAL SHAH B 17000 15.10
17/12/2009 512109 Aviva Inds KUNAL KANHAIYALAL SALAWAT B 20750 15.05
17/12/2009 512109 Aviva Inds KANHAIYALAL SALAWAT B 20000 15.75
17/12/2009 512109 Aviva Inds RAJESH OMPRAKASH AGARWAL S 20000 15.75
17/12/2009 512109 Aviva Inds GOPAL OMPRAKASH AGARWAL S 17000 15.10
17/12/2009 512109 Aviva Inds PRAVEEN OMPRAKASH AGARWAL S 21000 15.05
17/12/2009 512219 Finaventure Cap VISHWANATH KANNAN B 750000 40.00
17/12/2009 512219 Finaventure Cap FINAVENTURE ADVISORY SERVICES PVT. LTD. S 750000 40.00
17/12/2009 526367 Ganesh Hous THE MASTER TRUST BANK OF JAPANLTD HSBC GLOBAL INVESTMENT FUNDS AC S 181862 120.44
17/12/2009 533048 GI ENGINERG KADAM HOLDING LTD S 67946 15.29
17/12/2009 532951 GSS America DHANANJAY MONEY MANAGEMENT SERVICES B 163522 287.54
17/12/2009 532951 GSS America DHANANJAY MONEY MANAGEMENT SERVICES S 151022 289.31
17/12/2009 500255 LML ABHISHEK VIJAYKUMAR SHAH B 489310 10.36
17/12/2009 500255 LML ABHISHEK VIJAYKUMAR SHAH S 489310 10.64
17/12/2009 532796 Lumax Auto Tech METROCHEM INDUSTRIES LTD B 100000 71.50
17/12/2009 532796 Lumax Auto Tech ADROIT TRADELINK PRIVATE LIMITED S 100000 71.50
17/12/2009 532796 Lumax Auto Tech SETHI MERCANTILE PVT LTD S 89860 70.01
17/12/2009 531515 Mahan Inds CHUNILAL K AGRAWAL B 70000 20.21
17/12/2009 531515 Mahan Inds YOGENDRAKUMAR GUPTA S 63000 20.21
17/12/2009 532819 Mindtree NALANDA INDIA FUND LIMITED B 288608 686.00
17/12/2009 532819 Mindtree WALDEN SOFTWARE INVESTMENTS LIMITED S 301500 686.17
17/12/2009 532986 Niraj Cement MIHIR BHARAT SHAH B 70967 52.60
17/12/2009 532986 Niraj Cement MIHIR BHARAT SHAH S 68352 52.64
17/12/2009 530605 Nova Petro REGENT FINANCE CORPORATION PVT. LTD. B 275885 15.19
17/12/2009 530605 Nova Petro DB (INTL) OWN TRADING B 160219 14.39
17/12/2009 530605 Nova Petro REGENT FINANCE CORPORATION PVT. LTD. S 275885 13.86
17/12/2009 530605 Nova Petro DB (INTL) OWN TRADING S 160219 14.28
17/12/2009 531496 Omkar Overseas PARI STOCK TRADING PVT LTD B 35621 43.01
17/12/2009 531496 Omkar Overseas PARI STOCK TRADING PVT LTD S 27000 43.05
17/12/2009 531496 Omkar Overseas VIJAY KUMAR BOHRA S 30000 43.04
17/12/2009 531496 Omkar Overseas KRISHNADEVI OMKARMAL AGARWAL S 92000 43.05
17/12/2009 512449 Pace Textiles VIVEK KISHANPAL SAMANT S 140000 148.18
17/12/2009 517230 PAE BP FINTRADE PRIVATE LIMITED B 106788 46.00
17/12/2009 517230 PAE BP FINTRADE PRIVATE LIMITED S 99305 46.22
17/12/2009 511702 Parsharti Inv SANTOSH JAYANTI JAIN B 25000 34.50
17/12/2009 511702 Parsharti Inv PRADEEP RAMPRASAD SANDHIR HUF B 25000 33.95
17/12/2009 511702 Parsharti Inv GAURAV AERI S 25000 33.95
17/12/2009 511702 Parsharti Inv PREMILA MAHENDRA SHAH S 25000 34.50
17/12/2009 511702 Parsharti Inv PATEL SHAILESH JIVANLAL S 17500 34.00
17/12/2009 524136 Pee Cee Cosma VASUMATIBEN GULABDAS MITHAWALA B 7000 55.00
17/12/2009 524136 Pee Cee Cosma FARNAZ JIMMY SINGANPORIYA B 7000 53.00
17/12/2009 524136 Pee Cee Cosma VASUMATIBEN GULABDAS MITHAWALA S 7000 53.00
17/12/2009 524136 Pee Cee Cosma FARNAZ JIMMY SINGANPORIYA S 7000 55.00
17/12/2009 506618 Punjab Chem METROCHEM INDUSTRIES LTD B 50000 168.02
17/12/2009 506618 Punjab Chem PRIMORE SOLUTIONS PVT.LTD S 28012 168.00
17/12/2009 506618 Punjab Chem RAJYOG SHARE AND STOCK BROKERS S 22000 168.05
17/12/2009 502587 Rama Pulp MAHIPAT IWDARMAL MEHTA B 57380 32.02
17/12/2009 502587 Rama Pulp MAHIPAT IWDARMAL MEHTA S 42510 32.12
17/12/2009 590077 Ranklin Sol SHALU KAPOOR B 55161 49.70
17/12/2009 590077 Ranklin Sol R O BART S 52472 49.70
17/12/2009 512048 Splash Media SUVUDHA SECURITIES PVT LTD S 37161 498.91
17/12/2009 532093 Venkat Pharma JYOTI PORTFOLIO LIMITED B 96206 5.67
17/12/2009 532093 Venkat Pharma NARESH CHAND JAIN B 48711 5.67
17/12/2009 532093 Venkat Pharma JYOTI PORTFOLIO LIMITED S 51270 5.67
17/12/2009 532093 Venkat Pharma NARESH CHAND JAIN S 48711 5.76
17/12/2009 532093 Venkat Pharma KALPANA MADHANI SECURITIES PVT. LTD. S 30711 5.37
17/12/2009 530627 Vipul Dye Chem KARAN SANDEEP KHETAN B 37500 13.00
17/12/2009 530627 Vipul Dye Chem SANDEEP PURSHOTTAM KHETAN S 37500 13.00
17/12/2009 531249 Well Pack Papers SHOBHNABEN R PARMAR B 23946 360.60
17/12/2009 531249 Well Pack Papers PANDYA YAMINIBEN M B 31157 361.60
17/12/2009 531249 Well Pack Papers LAXMAN DHIRUBHAI PARMAR B 28502 359.93
17/12/2009 531249 Well Pack Papers NARENDRA AMRITLAL SHAH B 30000 359.98
17/12/2009 531249 Well Pack Papers PANDYA YAMINIBEN M S 28655 360.30
17/12/2009 531249 Well Pack Papers LAXMAN DHIRUBHAI PARMAR S 22181 360.80
17/12/2009 531396 Women Networks SOBHA CHAND BHANSALI B 25000 12.93
17/12/2009 531396 Women Networks DEEPAK KUMAR BHANSALI B 45000 12.90
17/12/2009 531396 Women Networks RADIANT FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED B 20000 12.93
17/12/2009 531396 Women Networks KAMALA DEVI KOTHARIX S 16140 12.93
17/12/2009 531396 Women Networks KREPTON TRADERS PRIVATE LTD S 23383 12.93
17/12/2009 522108 Yuken India SFCL KLASSIC VISION PORTFOLIO S 15575 122.27

NSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Dec 17 2009

Date,Symbol,Security Name,Client Name,Buy/Sell,Quantity Traded,Trade Price / Wght. Avg. Price,Remarks
17-DEC-2009,ATLANTA,Atlanta Limited,NIKON FINLEASE PVT. LTD,BUY,95093,170.11,-
17-DEC-2009,ATLANTA,Atlanta Limited,OM INVESTMENTS,BUY,112801,169.31,-
17-DEC-2009,GSSAMERICA,GSS America Infotech Limi,DHANANJAYA MONEY MANAGEMENT SERVICES PVT LTD,BUY,68530,292.33,-
17-DEC-2009,KERNEX,Kernex Microsystems (Indi,MBL & COMPANY LTD.,BUY,70149,134.80,-
17-DEC-2009,LML,LML Ltd.,DIPA JHUNJHUNWALA,BUY,371165,11.10,-
17-DEC-2009,LML,LML Ltd.,J V STOCK BROKING PRIVATE LIMITED,BUY,427781,10.85,-
17-DEC-2009,LUMAXTECH,Lumax Auto Technologies L,ALBULA INVESTMENT FUND LTD,BUY,269000,70.92,-
17-DEC-2009,NOVA,Nova Petrochem Ltd,REGENT FINANCE CORPORATION PVT. LTD.,BUY,151247,15.47,-
17-DEC-2009,NOVA,Nova Petrochem Ltd,VORA VILPABEN PRANAVBHAI,BUY,109005,15.90,-
17-DEC-2009,PAEL,PAE Limited,BHAVIN Y MEHTA,BUY,55687,46.29,-
17-DEC-2009,PAEL,PAE Limited,BP FINTRADE PRIVATE LIMITED,BUY,105409,46.01,-
17-DEC-2009,PAEL,PAE Limited,TCG STOCK BROKING LTD,BUY,50000,45.84,-
17-DEC-2009,PANTALOONR,Pantaloon Retail (India),CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL A/C EMERGING MARKETS GROWTH FUND INC,BUY,1091114,374.18,-
17-DEC-2009,POLARIS,Polaris Software Lab Ltd,SUNDARAM BNP PARIBAS MUTUAL FUND A/C SUNDARAM BNP PARIBAS E,BUY,969443,182.51,-
17-DEC-2009,THINKSOFT,Thinksoft Global Ser Ltd,DHARMSHI VASHRAM DESAI,BUY,55262,296.94,-
17-DEC-2009,ATLANTA,Atlanta Limited,NIKON FINLEASE PVT. LTD,SELL,95093,170.37,-
17-DEC-2009,ATLANTA,Atlanta Limited,OM INVESTMENTS,SELL,112801,169.38,-
17-DEC-2009,GANESHHOUC,Ganesh Housing Corp Ltd,THE MASTER TRUST BANK OF JAPAN LTD A/C( HSBC GLOBAL INVESTME,SELL,188766,120.58,-
17-DEC-2009,GISOLUTION,GI Engineering Solutions,KADAM HOLDING LTD,SELL,48331,15.10,-
17-DEC-2009,GSSAMERICA,GSS America Infotech Limi,DHANANJAYA MONEY MANAGEMENT SERVICES PVT LTD,SELL,81030,292.48,-
17-DEC-2009,KERNEX,Kernex Microsystems (Indi,MBL & COMPANY LTD.,SELL,70149,135.03,-
17-DEC-2009,LML,LML Ltd.,DIPA JHUNJHUNWALA,SELL,411165,10.95,-
17-DEC-2009,LML,LML Ltd.,J V STOCK BROKING PRIVATE LIMITED,SELL,401781,10.87,-
17-DEC-2009,LUMAXTECH,Lumax Auto Technologies L,DHANESH-KUMAR-JAIN,SELL,329000,70.76,-
17-DEC-2009,MINDTREE,MindTree Limited,WALDEN SOFTWARE INVESTMENTS LIMITED,SELL,214077,686.42,-
17-DEC-2009,NOVA,Nova Petrochem Ltd,REGENT FINANCE CORPORATION PVT. LTD.,SELL,154182,14.47,-
17-DEC-2009,NOVA,Nova Petrochem Ltd,TRIPOLI MANAGEMENT PVT LTD,SELL,500000,15.88,-
17-DEC-2009,NOVA,Nova Petrochem Ltd,VORA VILPABEN PRANAVBHAI,SELL,145778,14.35,-
17-DEC-2009,PAEL,PAE Limited,BHAVIN Y MEHTA,SELL,55689,46.32,-
17-DEC-2009,PAEL,PAE Limited,BP FINTRADE PRIVATE LIMITED,SELL,81350,45.87,-
17-DEC-2009,POLARIS,Polaris Software Lab Ltd,ORBITECH LIMITED,SELL,1030851,182.33,-
17-DEC-2009,THINKSOFT,Thinksoft Global Ser Ltd,DHARMSHI VASHRAM DESAI,SELL,55262,294.10,-

Lethargy continues

Today's major news
HCC bags Rs317.92-crore road project; the stock rises 2.52%.
Pratibha Industries secures contract worth Rs130 crore; the stock surges 2.09%.
KEC International wins orders worth Rs550 crore; the stock jumps 3.24%.
Patel Engineering bags $1 billion order in Djibouti; the stock ends the day 2.22% higher.
Tanla Solutions arm commences operations from SEZ in Hyderabad; the stock shot up 6.09%.
Click here for more stories
Post-market summary
Global signals
The European stocks opened weak and extended their losses in the early trading hours with the banking stocks leading the pack of losing stocks. At the time of writing this report FTSE 100 was trading 0.60% lower.
All the major Asian indices closed lower today. Shanghai Composite was down 2.34% while the Hang Seng shed 1.22%. SGX Nifty closed 41 points lower.
US stock futures opened weak with marginal losses. Investors are looking for data related to Initial Claims for December 12 and Continuing Claims for December 05, 2009.
Indian indices
The overall lethargy seen over the past two weeks continued this day too. Opening almost flat, at 16912, Sensex slid to touch an intra-day low of 16826. The day’s high was 16979 and select consumer durable stocks did attract investor interest. At closing bell Sensex was almost back of square only 18 points lower at 16894. Nifty closed only 0.30 points lower at 5042.
Sensex sentiment
Market breadth, the number of advancing shares to declining ones, was negative marginally. Of the 2,840 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,628 stocks advanced, whereas 1,173 stocks declined. Eighty four stocks closed unchanged.
Sectoral & stock screening
Consumer durable and healthcare stocks witnessed some investor interest with the BSE CD and BSE HC up by 1.72% and 1.44% respectively. Realty stocks have been under pressure for some days and the sector was down by 1.11% for the day. The rest of the sectors were either marginally up or down.
The star stock for the day was Pantaloon Retail that was up by 8.42% to be followed by Zee Entertainment that surged by 5.67% and Torrent Power that rose by 5.43%. DLF slid the most by 3.70%, followed by United Spirits that fell by 2.84% and Unitech that shed 2.19%.
Viewing volumes
Realty giant Unitech was the most actively traded share with over 1.44 crore shares changing hands on the BSE followed by wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy (1.21 crore shares), IFCI (1.15 crore shares), the largest realtor DLF (0.49 crore shares) and HDIL (0.48 crore shares).

Asian Markets turns timid on Thursday

Shanghai, Nikkei, Hang Seng finish in red while Sydney bucks regional trend
Stock markets in Asian region extended losses on Thursday, 17 December 2009, investors turn cautious after Hong Kong’s central bank said the city is at risk of sharp corrections in asset prices. Though overnight cues from Wall Street were mixed, the mood remains quite cautious in the region with a section of investors still remaining a bit concerned about the pace of economic recovery.
On Wall Street, stocks closed mixed, retreating after the Federal Open Market Committee announced that it will keep its key interest rate near zero. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 11 points, or 0.1%, to 10,441. The S&P 500 finished ahead by 1 point, or 0.1%, at 1109, while the Nasdaq rose 6 points, or 0.3%, to 2207.
On the economic front, the Fed reiterated that it will keep its fed funds rate at 0% to 0.25% and that conditions are likely to keep the rate exceptionally low for an extended period. In a slight turn of phrase, the central bankers' statement also noted that deterioration in the labor market is abating, though the typically cautious statement also cited a usual host of challenges to recovery.
In the commodity market, crude oil fell as the dollar strengthened against the euro, limiting the appeal of commodities as a currency hedge.
Crude oil for January delivery fell as much as 54 cents, or 0.7%, to $72.12 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $72.15 a barrel at 8:56 a.m. London time.
Brent crude oil for February settlement fell as much as 64 cents, or 0.9%, to $73.65 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract was at $73.92 a barrel at 8:45 a.m. London time.
Gold declined, reversing early gains, as the dollar’s strength eroded demand for the precious metal as an alternative investment. Gold for immediate delivery dropped as much as 1.1% to $1,125.40 an ounce and traded at $1,128.20 at 3:30 p.m. in Singapore.
Earlier it climbed as much as 0.4% to $1,141.88 an ounce, 6.9% off its record of $1,226.56 reached 3 December 2009. February-delivery bullion on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was 0.7% lower at $1,127.90 an ounce after gaining as much as 0.6% earlier.
In the currency market, the US dollar also rides on the weakness in Asia stocks to the news and strengthens across the board. The greenback is also lifted as recovery in gold fades again after breaching 1140 level briefly.
The Japanese yen was quoted at 89.90 against the US dollar. The U.S. dollar rose above the 90 yen line today morning for the first time since 7 December in Tokyo, after the Federal Reserve gave a better economic outlook, although it put off a rate hike as widely expected.
The Hong Kong dollar was trading at HK$ 7.7568 against the dollar. Actually the Hong Kong dollar is pegged at HK$ 7.8 to the U.S. dollar but can trade between HK$ 7.75 and HK$7.85 to the U.S. dollar.
In Sydney trade, the Australian dollar skidded to 11-week lows on Thursday as the US dollar cleared major chart levels on a range of currencies, triggering a wave of short covering in an illiquid year-end market. The Aussie crumbled to close locally at $US0.8892 from an early $US0.9012 high and $US0.8987 at Wednesday's close.
In Wellington trade, the New Zealand dollar fell today as the US dollar rose strongly against the euro. The euro is at its lowest level against the US dollar in three months. The NZ dollar was at US71.51c at 5pm, down from US72.01c at 8am and US71.76c at 5pm yesterday.
The South Korean won closed at 1,177.9 won to the U.S. dollar, down 13 won from Wednesday's close, as lingering uncertainties about the economy led investors to bet on safer assets.
The Taiwan dollar weakened further against the greenback. The Taiwan dollar was trading lower against the US dollar at NT$ 32.3480, 0.0200 up from Tuesday’s close of NT$32.3280.
In equities, most of the Asian markets ended lower, with worries about a surge in supply of new shares and their impact on liquidity dragging Shanghai and Hong Kong lower.
In Japan, stock market ended in the negative terrain reversing gains, as banks dropped on investor concerns that yesterday’s gains were excessive. Investors pocketed profits on a rally in big banks. At the closing, Nikkei 225 Stock Average index fell 13.61 points, or 0.13%, to 10,163.80, while the broader Topix decreased 2.01 points or 0.22%, to 896.28.
On the economic front, Japan’s leading index for October was revised down to 89.4 from 89.7. However, the index stood above September's 87.5 and improved for the eighth straight month. At the same time, the coincident index came in at 94.3 in October, in line with the preliminary estimate. In September, the reading was 93.2. Further, the lagging index reading for October was revised to 83.7 from 84.8.
Japan’s value of household financial assets totaled 1,439.48 trillion yen at the end of September, down 0.7% year on year but a smaller decline than the 2.9% fall three months earlier, according to preliminary data. Household financial wealth began shrinking after hitting a record 1,571 trillion yen at the end of June 2007. In the three months through September, such assets contracted 0.2%.
In Mainland China, equities closed at three weeks low level, tumbling more than 2%, as the prospect of heavy new share supplies eroded sentiment. Moreover, many investors either remained on the sidelines or reduced their positions ahead of the year-end holidays. Furthermore, China’s bankers confidence index, which rose for the third straight month failed to support the composite index.
The Shanghai Composite Index ended down 76.14 points at 3,179.08, slipping for a third day in a row. The Shenzhen Component Index lost 2%, or 273.25 points, to close at 13,391.72 points.
On the economic front, Chinese bankers become more confident in the nation's macro-economy and expect a continuous economic up tick in the future, a survey by the central bank said. Bankers' confidence index (BCI) for the macro-economy rose for three straight quarters to 70.1 percent in the fourth quarter, 14.7 percentage points up from the third quarter, the People's Bank of China said. Bankers' macro-economic expectation index for the first quarter next year increased to 49.9 percent, 4 percentage points higher than a quarter ago.
In Hong Kong, stocks continued to extend their losses for a third session, as traders grew convinced of more action from the policymakers to tame overheated asset markets in the days to come. Hang Seng Index declined after the mainland's securities regulator gave its approval for a number of initial public offerings over the last few days. Financials and Property stocks led the losses. Weak cues from the US futures indices aggravated the selling in the closing hours.
At the closing bell, the Hang Seng Index stumbled 264.11 points, or 1.22%, to 21,347.63, meanwhile the Hang Seng China Enterprise, which tracks the overall performance of 43 mainland Chinese state-owned enterprises on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, shrank 190.23 points, or 1.50%, to 12,501.20.
On the economic front, Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the city's de factor central bank, today announced its benchmark interest rate will remain at 0.50%.
In Australia, stock markets continued to swing between gains and losses finishing marginally higher, as gains in mining stocks were offset by losses in financial sector.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed up 8.4 points, or 0.2%, to 4670.3 and the All Ordinaries rose 13.5 points, or 0.3%, to 4689.6.
On the economic front, the Reserve Bank of Australia sold a net $313 million in the foreign exchange market in November. This figure includes foreign exchange transactions against the Australian dollar undertaken by the RBA.
The central bank also bought a new $354 million worth of foreign currency from the government during the month. Altogether, the RBA bought a new $41 million worth of foreign exchange in November.
In New Zealand, benchmark index ended the day down in the negative terrain after inching up for two days in a row. The NZX50 decreased 0.32% or 10.14 points to 3122.92. The NZX 15 declined 0.53% or 30.27 points to close at 5671.04.
On the economic front, business confidence in New Zealand softened further in December – the third successive monthly decline. A net 39 percent expect better times ahead, down 4 percentage points on November’s reading. Confidence was down across all the major sub-groups. However, despite the slight fall in confidence, the glass remains half full, as per the report. The overall level of confidence remains robust, and noticeably so across all the major segments. Confidence is still strongest in the construction industry, but is now closely followed by retailing, services and manufacturing.
In South Korea, stocks closed lower as institutional investor’s unloaded large-cap shares on economic uncertainties. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slid 16.4 points to 1,647.84.
In Taiwan, stock market in Taiwan took the losses to third consecutive session, following the mixed closing on the Wall Street. Construction sector lead the losers while semiconductor sector put up some gains. The benchmark Taiex share index extended losses for the third session on Thursday, by finishing the day lower by 9.43 points or 0.12% at 7742.17.
In Philippines, stocks ended marginally higher today amid mixed cues from the Wall Street and ideas that the central bank will keep its interest rates steady later on today. The benchmark index PSEi ascended 0.52% or 15.78 points to 3,048.15, while the All Shares index mounted 0.40% or 7.76 points to 1,901.40.
In India, the key benchmark indices ended a choppy trading session lower as world stocks fell after the Federal Reserve at the end of a two-day policy meeting, detailed its plans to remove excess liquidity from the financial system, as previously planned. The BSE Sensex was down 18.52 points or 0.11% to 16894.25. The S&P CNX Nifty was down 0.30 points or 0.01% to 5041.75.
Elsewhere, Malaysia’s Kula Lumpur Composite index finished slightly lower at 1266.97 while stock markets in Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite index inched down 12.97 points ending the day lower at 2509.58.
In other regional market, European shares and the euro weakened on Thursday, as another downgrade for Greece's credit rating kept investors focused on prospects for the region. The U.K. FTSE 100 index declined 0.6% or 30.42 points to 5,290, the German DAX index lost 0.5% or 27.96 points to 5,875 and the French CAC-40 index slipped 0.5% or 18.80 points to 3,857.

Turnover declines

Nifty December 2009 futures at discount
Nifty December 2009 futures were at 5,030, at a discount of 11.75 points as compared to the spot closing of 5,041.75. Turnover in NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment was Rs 73,698.14 crore, lower than Rs 76,131.29 crore on Wednesday, 16 December 2009.
Tata Motors December 2009 futures were at discount at 708.90 compared to the spot closing of 712.80.
State Bank of India December 2009 futures were at a slight premium at 2,170.30 compared to the spot closing of 2,169.
Housing Development & Infrastructure December 2009 futures were at premium at 352.85 compared to the spot closing of 351.80.
In the cash market, the S&P CNX Nifty slipped 0.30 points or 0.01% at 5,041.75.

Bulls throng small-cap, mid-cap stocks

Investors have thrown caution to the wind. A host of small-cap and mid-cap stocks rose sharply today, 17 December 2009, even as the key benchmark indices viz. the BSE Sensex and the S&P CNX Nifty witnessed wild intraday swings. The key benchmark indices ended a choppy trading session lower as world stocks fell after the Federal Reserve at the end of a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, 16 December 2009, detailed its plans to remove excess liquidity from the financial system, as previously planned. The BSE Sensex fell 18.52 points or 0.11%, off close to 85 points from the day's high and up close to 70 points from the day's low.
Realty and capital goods stocks fell. But, IT stocks rose on a weak rupee. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) slumped in late trade. The market breadth was strong.
The market was volatile. Stocks cut losses after an early slide. The market pared gains after hitting fresh intraday high in mid-morning trade. The market slipped into the red after moving between the positive and negative zones in early afternoon trade. The market cut losses after hitting a fresh intraday low in afternoon trade. The market staged a strong intraday rebound with the Sensex hitting a fresh intraday high in mid-afternoon trade. The market once again slipped into the red later.
India VIX, a volatility index based on the S&P CNX Nifty index option prices, declined 0.4% to 27.25. India VIX is a measure of the market's expectation of volatility over the next 30 calendar days
Moody's Investors Service on Thursday upgraded the long-term foreign currency (FC) deposit ratings of 14 Indian banks to Ba1 from Ba2, following the rating agency's recent upgrade of India's FC deposit ceiling.
The food price index rose 19.95% in the year to 5 December 2009, government data released at 12:00 IST today, showed. The fuel price index rose 3.95% and primary articles index rose 14.98%.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday that rising food prices was an area of concern and the government would consider imports to augment food supply. Mukherjee had said on Tuesday that the government will take steps to tame rising prices and enable the economy to recover faster.
Inflation and high fiscal deficit are major risks to the government's ambitious plan to ratchet up economic growth back to 9% level seen between 2005/06 and 2007/08. Latest government data shows food inflation at 16.7% in November 2009, which have pushed the headline inflation to 4.78%.
Trade Minister Anand Sharma said on Wednesday exports growth is sustainable in the coming months. The exports broke their fall in November 2009 after 13 months of decline, adding to the flurry of positive economic data, but the news was greeted with caution by policymakers and exporters. Helped by Christmas buying, exports grew 18.3% to $13.2 billion in November from a small base last year.
Advance tax payments by several automobile, power, cement and banking majors in the third quarter have been stronger compared to the year-ago pay-outs indicating better third quarter results of these companies.
Meanwhile, the two main bourses the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange have postponed by more than two weeks their move to bring forward the start of trading by 55 minutes, after strong protests from brokers. Extended trading on the two premier stock exchanges in the country will now begin on 4 January 2010, instead of the earlier planned 18 December 2009.
The two exchanges had late on Wednesday, 16 December 2009, announced extension of trade timing in equity and derivative segments by almost an one hour to 9:00 IST effective from Friday, 18 December 2009. The move was to align the timings with that in major Asian markets.
Meanwhile, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on Thursday published their proposals on bank capital and liquidity rules. The fully calibrated set of standards will be developed by the end of 2010 to be phased in as financial conditions improve and the economic recovery is assured, with the aim of implementation by end-2012. It stressed that it's still considered different proposals. Requirements for the trading book, resecuritizations and exposures to off-balance sheet conduits are to be implemented by the end of 2010.
European shares fell back from a one-month closing high on Thursday, after the US Federal Reserve reiterated that its special liquidity measures would expire early next year. The key benchmark indices in France, Germany and UK fell by between 0.56% to 0.93%.
UK retail sales slipped 0.3% in November from October, or rose 3.1% compared to November 2008, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. Food store sales rose by 0.4% while non-food store sales fell 0.9%.
Most Asian shares fell on Thursday even as the Federal Reserve said the US economy is improving. The key benchmark indices in China, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea fell by between 0.02% to 2.34%.
The dollar rose broadly on year-end position unwinding, adding to its gains for the month. The dollar rose to a three-month-high against the euro in Asia Thursday due to concerns over European bond markets and the US Federal Open Market Committee's slightly hawkish statement overnight. The Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar's value against a trade-weighted basket of six currencies, was at 77.532 from 76.934 late Wednesday.
The euro fell below $1.4400 for the first time since 8 September 2009. The US currency could post further gains if December's Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index due later in the global day beats market forecasts, highlighting the recovery in the American economy. Economists expect the index to come to 16.40, a slight deterioration from the index's previous result of 16.70.
Also adding pressure to the euro was Standard & Poor's announcement on Wednesday that it had cut Greece's credit rating on concerns the country will struggle to bring lower a deficit that is over 12% of GDP. Greece has the widest budget deficit among the European Union nations. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou pledged two days ago to provide 'radical' measures to fix the budget.
Making the market more bearish about the euro was a Standard & Poor's Ratings Services announcement that it has revised its ratings criteria for covered bond programs, placed euro 1.46 trillion worth of such programs on CreditWatch, and signaled these programs may be downgraded in the next few months. European banks often raise funds using covered bonds because of the low cost. A ratings cut possibility in bonds means European financial institutions may face difficulty raising funds in the near future, which may spur risk aversion.
Trading in US index futures indicated Dow could fall 57 points at the opening bell on Thursday, 17 December 2009.
US markets erased most its intraday gains on Wednesday after the Fed offered no surprises in its latest statement, keeping interest rates steady, as expected. The Fed also backed its pledge to keep rates low for an extended period. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 10.88 points, or 0.1%, to 10,441.12. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index added 1.25 points, or 0.1%, 1,109.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 5.86 points, or 0.3%, to 2,206.91.
The Federal Reserve, the Fed kept its target range for its bank lending rate at zero to 0.25%, where it's stood since last December 2008. And it repeated its pledge to keep rates at exceptionally low levels for an extended period. In a more upbeat assessment, the Fed said the economy has continued to pick up and that deterioration in the labour market is abating. Still, the Fed predicts unemployment will remain high. The Fed statement said the household spending appears to be expanding at a moderate pace.
Economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period, the central bank said.
The Fed took note of improving conditions for banks and said it would shutter most of its emergency lending facilities on 1 February 2010, the clearest sign yet it was ready to pull back from extraordinary efforts to fight the global financial crisis.
The BSE Sensex fell 18.52 points or 0.11% to 16894.25. The Sensex rose 66.75 points at the day's high of 16,979.52 in mid-afternoon trade. The Sensex fell 86.77 points at the day's low of 16,826 in afternoon trade.
The S&P CNX Nifty fell 0.30 points or 0.01% to 5041.75. Nifty December 2009 futures were at 5,030, at a discount of 11.75 points as compared to the spot closing of 5,041.75. Turnover in NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment was Rs 73,698.14 crore, lower than Rs 76,131.29 crore on Wednesday, 16 December 2009.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market was strong. On BSE, 1619 shares advanced as compared with 1181 that declined. A total of 82 shares remained unchanged.
Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 16 rose while rest fell.
BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 4497 crore, higher than Rs 4277.07 crore on Wednesday, 17 December 2009.
A deluge of global liquidity has boosted stocks across the globe this year. Governments and central banks around the world have injected trillions of dollars in the past one year to pull the world out of a most severe recession since the 1930s Great Depression. The Sensex is up 7246.94 points or 75.11% in calendar year 2009, as on 17 December 2009. From a 3-year closing low of 8,160.40 on 9 March 2009, the Sensex is up 8733.85 points or 107.02% as on 17 December 2009.
Coming back to today's trade, the BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.09% and the BSE Small-cap index rose 0.88% Both the indices outperformed the Sensex.
The sectoral indices on BSE showed a mixed trend. The BSE Consumer Durables index (up 1.72%), the BSE Healthcare index (up 1.44%), the BSE IT index (up 0.87%), the BSE Teck index (up 0.66%), the BSE Metal index (up 0.35%), the BSE PSU index (up 0.32 %), the BSE Auto index (up 0.29%), the BSE Bankex (up 0.19%), the BSE Power index (up 0.14%), outperformed the Sensex.
The BSE Realty index (down 1.11%), the BSE Oil & Gas index (down 0.59%), the BSE Capital Goods index (down 0.31%), the BSE FMCG index (down 0.02%) underperformed the Sensex.
India's largest private sector firm by market capitalisation Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 1.23%. Reliance Industries' efforts to buy a controlling stake in bankrupt petrochemical maker LyondellBasell has reportedly got a bit complicated, as the Netherlands-based company submitted a new reorganisation plan to a court in the US, even as the Indian company evaluates a binding bid.
The new plan of Lyondell to emerge from bankruptcy through a rights issue and payment of its huge debt does not preclude Reliance from proceeding with its plans.
IT stocks rose on a weaker rupee. India's third largest software services exporter Wipro rose 0.19% as its ADR rose 6.45% on Wednesday. India's largest IT exporter by sales Tata Consultancy Services rose 1.29%. The company's Q3 advance tax surged to Rs 177 crore from Rs 129 crore.
India's second largest software services exporter Infosys Technologies rose 0.65% as its ADR rose 2.1% on Wednesday. Infosys Technologies expects revenue growth in the fiscal year starting in April to be better than 2009/10 as a recovery in the global economy spurs investments by its clients, Subhash Dhar, senior vice-president and head of global sales and marketing said.
The Indian rupee weakened on Thursday as the dollar strengthened on the back of the Federal Reserve's confidence about the US economy. The partially convertible rupee was at 46.88/89 per dollar, weaker than Wednesday's close of 46.655/665. A weak rupee boosts revenue of IT firms in rupee terms as the sector derives a lion's share of revenue from exports.
India's largest engineering and construction firm by sales Larsen & Toubro fell 1.33% even as the company paid Rs 270 crore as advance tax in third quarter versus Rs 210 crore same quarter last year.
Among other capital goods stocks, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Siemens, Praj Industries fell by between 0.1% to 0.87%.
Realty stocks fell on profit taking. India's largest realty player by market capitalization DLF fell 3.7%. DLF's overall debt will reportedly go up by Rs 2200 crore as a result of integration of its wholly-owned subsidiary DLF Cyber City Developers with Caraf Builders & Constructions (a KP Singh company that owns DLF Assets). DLF board has in-principle approved the integration, that will see DLF holding 60% interest in the entity formed by consolidation of its own commercial property subsidiary and the property trust.
The remaining 40% will be held by promoter Mr K P Singh and family. In effect, DAL will now be brought into DLF's fold through this integration. DLF plans to list the property trust in Singapore in 2010. DLF said that the integration will be a 'net cashless transaction' but did not reveal either the enterprise valuation of the two entities involved or the modalities of the deal.
Among other realty stocks, Phoenix Mills, Unitech and Omaxe fell by between 1.48% to 2.19%.
Metal stocks rose after LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange, rose 2.25% on Wednesday, 16 December 2009. Steel Authority of India, Hindustan Zinc, National Aluminum Company rose by between 0.76% to 1.82%.
India's largest aluminum maker by sales Hindalco Industries rose 1.4% gaining for the third straight day. The company paid Rs 100 crore as advance tax in third quarter versus Rs 40 crore same quarter last year.
India's largest steel maker by sales Tata Steel rose 1.16%. The company's European unit Corus secured a 350 million euro contract to supply rails tracks to French railway operator SNCF. Meanwhile, Tata Steel paid Rs 650 crore as advance tax in third quarter versus Rs 260 crore same quarter last year.
Print media stocks rose after a strong response to the IPO of DB Corp which was subscribed close to 40 times. Jagran Prakashan, HT Media, Deccan Chronicle Holdings, Sandesh rose by between 0.63% to 5.81%.
India's largest thermal power generator by sales NTPC fell 0.14%. As per reports the government plans to mop up around Rs 11,000 crore from the disinvestment of 5% stake in the utility giant.
Among other power stocks, Reliance Power, Tata Power Company and Reliance Infrastructure fell by between 0.21% to 0.56%.
Shares of state-run oil-marketing companies declined as oil rose above $71 a barrel on Wednesday, extending its gains after snapping a nine-day losing streak a day earlier, as industry data showing a sharp drop in US distillate stockpiles overshadowed signs of weak demand. Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) (down 1.93%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) (down 1.17%) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) (down 1.42%) edged lower. Rise in crude oil prices will increase under-recoveries of state-run oil firms on domestic sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene at a controlled price.
India's largest cement maker by sales ACC rose 0.67% even as company's Q3 advance tax was at Rs 110 crore, lower than Rs 125 crore in the same period last year.
Among other cement stocks, UltraTech Cement, Birla Corporation Ambuja Cements rose by between 0.02% to 0.92%.
Cement prices are reportedly seen hardening in the January-March 2010 quarter as demand from state projects picks up and rural housing drives volume growth. Prices went up by Rs 8-10 for a 50 kg bag southern India late November to Rs 155-175, while a similar hike in Mumbai on 2 December 2009 raised prices to Rs 240-245 per bag.
Construction shares rose on government's thrust on infrastructure.. Hindustan Construction Company, Gammon India, Jaiprakash Associates, Gayatri Projects rose by between 1.04% to 10.44%. The government has set a target of spending $20 billion a year on road construction.
Auto stocks were mixed. India's largest motorcycle maker by sales Hero Honda Motors rose 0.39%. The company's total vehicle sales jumped 32% to 3.81 lakh units in November 2009 over November 2008.
India's second largest bike maker by sales Bajaj Auto fell 0.1%. Bajaj Auto will reportedly stop producing scooters by March 2010 to focus on motorcycles.
Bajaj Auto on 9 December 2009 launched a 135 cc Pulsar, pushing the Pulsar brand into the mass segment. Bajaj expects a sell a minimum 30,000 units per month of the new Pulsar model. The automaker had recently refreshed the entire Pulsar lineup and expects total Pulsar sales to cross 80,000 units per month.
The company's total vehicle sales rose 73% to 2.76 lakh units in November 2009 over November 2008. Motorcycles sales jumped 84% to 2.42 lakh units.
India's largest small car maker by sales Maruti Suzuki India fell 1.16%. Suzuki Motor Corp and Volkswagen AG will start detailed discussions over joint projects after 10 January 2010, Suzuki CEO Osamu Suzuki said on Wednesday. Japan's Suzuki Motor said on 9 December 2009 it will sell a 19.9% stake to Volkswagen (VW) for $2.5 billion and use half the proceeds to buy shares in the German automaker, as the two firms form a formidable force in the auto industry. Japan's Suzuki has a 54.2% stake in Maruti Suzuki India.
Maruti's total vehicle sales spurted 66.60% to 87,807 units in November 2009 over November 2008. Domestic sales spurted 60.10% to 76,359 units, while exports surged 128.60% to 11,448 units in November 2009 over November 2008.
India's top truck maker by sales Tata Motors rose 0.18% as company paid Rs 100 crore as advance tax in third quarter versus Nil same quarter last year. Egypt has reportedly invited Tata Motors to build a factory to make the Nano, the world's cheapest car, in the African country for the local market and sales elsewhere.
India's top tractor marker by sales Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) rose 0.96% after company paid Rs 195 crore as advance tax in third quarter versus Rs 4.5 crore same quarter last year. M&M has forayed into the aerospace business by acquiring majority stakes in two Australian companies, Aerostaff Australia and Gippsland Aeronautics. Mahindra Aerospace (MAPL), in which Kotak Private Equity has also invested Rs 150 crore, will hold 75% stake in each of the two Aussie companies. The remaining will be held by the existing managements. The payments will be made in installments.
Car sales in India rose an annual 61% to 1,33,687 in November 2009 over November 2008, boosted by improved consumer sentiment, easier availability of loans and a low sales base a year earlier, an industry body said on Tuesday. Sales of trucks and buses, a gauge of economic activity, doubled to 40,847 units in November from 20,631 a year earlier, data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers showed.
India's largest FMCG maker by sales Hindustan Unilever rose 1.63% The company paid Rs 200 crore as advance tax in third quarter versus Rs 155 crore same quarter last year.
Among other FMCG stocks ITC, Dabur India and United Breweries rose by between 0.08% to 0.59%.
Telecom shares fell after new entrant Sistema Shyam Teleservices extended the tariff war in the telecom segment. Idea Cellular (down 1.28%), Bharti Airtel (down 0.78%), and Reliance Communication (down 0.63%), declined. Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL), which operates under the MTS brand, on Wednesday, 16 December 2009, launched mobile telephony services in Mumbai.
Telecom stocks have taken a severe pounding recently following concerns that the ongoing tariff war will further shrink revenues and margins of telecom companies.
Cals Refineries clocked the highest volume of 2.08 crore shares on BSE. Unitech (1.44 crore shares), Suzlon Energy (1.21 crore shares), IFCI (1.15 crore shares) and Asahi Infrastructure (0.65 crore shares) were the other volume toppers in that order.
State Bank of India clocked the highest turnover of Rs 198.94 crore on BSE. DLF (Rs 182.19 crore), Housing Development & Infrastructure (Rs 171.38 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 131.68 crore), Unitech (Rs 119.14 crore) were the other turnover toppers in that order.

Change in market timing NSE BSE

Based on the market feedback, it has been jointly decided by NSE & BSE that the revision of market open timing to 9 am shall be effective from January 4, 2010. In the interim, the current market open timing of 9.55 am shall continue.

Via : www.nseindia.com

JSW Energy gets $579m, prices IPO at lower end

JSW Energy has raised Rs 2700 crore ($579 million) in its initial public offer after it priced the sale at the lower end of the 100-115 rupees per share band following a tepid investor response.

The company will issue shares to retail individual bidders at a Rs 5 discount to the issue price, it said in a newspaper advertisement on Tuesday.

The offering is the third-largest IPO from a power producer in India this year, behind state-run NHPC and private-sector utility Adani Power.